News

Fat is the Issue in New Jersey

Politicians used to be fat, and voters used to be thin. This has been turned on its head: Now a fat politician is an unusual bird, while the majority of voters are corpulent beasts.

Fat used to be an attribute of a successful man, suggesting power, status, and fine dining—the proverbial fat cat. A few generations ago, Teddy Kennedy would not have been an anomaly on the Senate floor. But then politics became a subset of the media business. A fat politician became as much of a non-starter as a fat anchorman.

It is probably more difficult to be a fat politician than it is to be a promiscuous one. You can't get more politically incorrect than to be fat stuff.

This has now become an open issue in the campaign for governor in New Jersey. Christopher J. Christie, the Republican candidate, isn't just carrying an extra 60 pounds; he's in there with an extra 200 or so. Even in a vastly overweight nation, he sticks out. He's a riveting sight, an issue of engineering, a walking (barely walking) public policy problem, burdening the health care system and anyone with the misfortune to be seated next to him on an airplane.